Alice Vol. 3 No. 2

By Michaela Hancock
For some, poetry recalls
the often dreadful memories of
annotating rhyme scheme, syllable
count and figurative language in high
school English classes. However,
some students at The University of
Alabama have a greater affinity for
the art. Some discovered writing and
performing their own poetry after
already being involved in other arts,
while others found it to be a release
for teen angst, but they all share a
love for the creative outlet provided
by poetry and spoken word.
Jahman Hill, a second year
graduate student at The University of
Alabama, started writing poetry when
Poetry is so important as a
means of expression, and the
community building that happens
when people come together over
poetry is so beautiful.
he came to college. Before that, he had
written rap music, which he described
as terrible, so he decided to try poetry
instead. Hill is now a published
poet whose book, Made From my
Mother’s Ceiling was released earlier
this year. He also travels the country
performing his work.
Kailey Webster, a University
of Alabama junior, started writing
poetry in high school. As part of
the speech and debate team, poetry
was her favorite event. She learned
more about poetry and developed an
interest for writing her own, which
she began doing her senior year.
Hill and Webster both joined
The University of Alabama’s speech
and debate team. They bonded over
a shared interest in poetry and began
attending poetry slams together
where one or both were competing.
However, they always had to travel for
the slams, and they noticed the poetry
scene as a whole lacked a presence in
Tuscaloosa. Then on the way home
from a slam in June, Webster had the
idea to create their own presence in
Tuscaloosa.
“Let’s just do it,” Webster said.
“Let’s make a poetry venue.”
After making the executive
decision to pursue this, Hill and
Webster met with one of Hill’s
close mentors, Dr. Utz McKnight, a
professor in gender and race studies
at the university. McKnight supported
the idea and suggested that they go
about starting a student organization.
With his help with the logistics, Hill
and Webster started the process of
beginning a campus organization,
still concerned about the potential
lack of students’ interest in joining.
“At the time, we knew of
maybe two other people who were
interested in spoken word or slam,”
Webster said. “There was still this
level of doubt of, ‘Is this something
Tuscaloosa wants?’”
Still they continued filling out
forms and spreading the word, and
in July they held their first event as
the Alabama Student Association for
Poetry (ASAP). The organization’s
first big event, “ASAP Blitz,”
happened in September 2017. The
event featured a workshop led by poet
and spoken word artist, Steven Willis.
From there, ASAP started biweekly
open mic nights at Monarch Espresso
Bar. The open mic nights have
68 Alice Spring 2018